Category Archives: Cook The Book Fridays

It’s the end of summer, and it seems like every meal revolves around corn and tomatoes. We’re trying to get our fill before the season’s over, and we’ll have to wait for next summer to come around.

I’ve been slicing tomatoes, roasting tomatoes, making tomato tarts, making sauce, and, of course, making Panzanella, or as we call it at my house, Bread Salad. I make this all the time in the summer. I start with the basics: tomatoes, alliums, toasted bread, and vinaigrette and add whatever else is around and matches my mood. Sometimes, I add capers and olives, other times avocados and corn, tailoring the herbs and the dressing match the add-ins.

This week’s recipe for Cook the Book Fridays is yet another variation: Tomato and Peach Panzanella. It’s the same idea of what I usually make with diced peaches added. The peaches gave an extra boost of late summer flavor. Of course, I had to make this without the peaches and just add them to my portion. As you might expect, Howard wasn’t into the fruit in a savory salad thing. I liked the full-blown combination. I won’t make this one again because of Howard’s rules, though I might add lemon zest sometimes. I liked the unexpected brightness it brought to the bowl.

Though the journey through My Paris Kitchen is over, my on-line cooking friends and I are continuing our virtual cook-along with Dorie Greenspan’s Everyday Dorie. Published in October 2018, we’ve been dipping our toes in monthly. In September, we’ll expand our efforts and report on two recipes each month.

This week’s selection aligns perfectly with the season – corn season, that is! Fresh-Off-the-Cob Corn Chowder showcases the sweet corn my household looks forward to all year long. This chowder tastes indulgent and yet, it is reasonably healthy.

The genius of this recipe is to cook half the vegetables in broth until tender and then puree them to make the base. It’s perfectly creamy, without any cream. The other half of the vegetables are sautéed in the fat remaining from cooking a few slices of bacon (OK, maybe not so healthy) and added to the puree. I didn’t even think the bacon was key to enjoying the soup, so it could easily be omitted. The only truly fussy part (which wasn’t a big deal) was fishing out half the potatoes before pureeing.

To reinforce the summer theme, I garnished each bowl with some quartered cherry tomatoes.

I am thrilled to discover this wonderful soup. It’s worth heating up the kitchen.